Repair scam... help needed

Finder said:
The shop keeper has no legal reason to return your property. You are required to pay for services you ordered--it can be tough to prove nothing was done. If you walk out of the store with your camera without payment, he can haul you off to court--just as if you drove your car from the repair garage without paying.

You are in a game and you need to play it. The owner is still required to provide the service to you. It is his right to "correct" the "mistake." Let him do that.

I know this sucks. But I would be calm and careful with everything you do during this transaction. Get everything in writing. A paper trail is the only thing of value--what is said is just hearsay.
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He agrees that nothing was done and told me so in front of a few witnesses.

It may not look lke it but i am being calm but i reall am :)

I would be required to pay if any work had been done. If work had been done and i had not been happy they would be offered the chance to do the work again. No work has been done so I want my property back.

The BIG screw up here was me trusting a person I thought ran a good business. Honestly, my feelings are hurt. I really tried hard to help his business out and I get crapped on. I now see why he struggles.
 
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Finder said:
The shop keeper has no legal reason to return your property. You are required to pay for services you ordered--it can be tough to prove nothing was done. If you walk out of the store with your camera without payment, he can haul you off to court--just as if you drove your car from the repair garage without paying.

You are in a game and you need to play it. The owner is still required to provide the service to you. It is his right to "correct" the "mistake." Let him do that.

I know this sucks. But I would be calm and careful with everything you do during this transaction. Get everything in writing. A paper trail is the only thing of value--what is said is just hearsay.
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True enough, but if the OP just takes it back, then the ball's in the repair guy's court and he's got to decide if he wants to go through the hassle of chasing a guy over $300. Then, if the OP does end up in small claims court or whatever, he tells his side of it and sees what happens.

Let's say he does things your way and goes to court and gets an order for the guy to return the camera. I don't know what it costs to start a small claims action where the OP lives, but it's probably at least $50. Then you've got to serve the guy. Let's say that everything goes swimmingly at the hearing and the adjudicator agrees 100% with the OP, maybe he'll get those costs back, maybe not.

So, now he's got a court order. Maybe the repair guy still wants to jerk him around and the OP has to get a sheriff to seize the camera or funds. More money. Not to mention the time and energy.

I still like TWoK's suggestion. :)
 
Good news. sent letter via fed ex, e mail, fax, and drop off on monday. He called Tue afternoon and said he had recieved the letter and that I was right on all counts. He apologised and said to come pick up my stuff. I got it back tonight.

Very glad it worked out so well
 
Take him to Small Claims Court in your city (hopefully the same as his). You don't need a lawyer--just the fact and honesty.
 
Frank Petronio said:
Publish the name of the shop now!
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Not fair to him. He did the right thing in the long run. I would strongly suggest that no one in the atlanta use anyone for local repairs...maybe KEH but no first hand experience with them.

If you are from here you already know who I am talking about :)
 
atlcruiser said:
Good news. sent letter via fed ex, e mail, fax, and drop off on monday. He called Tue afternoon and said he had recieved the letter and that I was right on all counts. He apologised and said to come pick up my stuff. I got it back tonight.

Very glad it worked out so well
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Good news!

Of course you still don't know if you overreacted, because this might have happened anyway when he'd thought it through.

But it looks as though you did the right thing. You certainly didn't do the wrong thing.

Cheers,

R.
 
atlcruiser said:
What i see is that he was hired to fix my camera. He was not hired to farm it out nor was I told that he would farm it out. I did not agree to pay anyone but him for any work done.

.
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First - I'm glad that it worked out for you.
However I cant agree with the above statement.
Let take an example. What if you came back when you did and camera was in superb shape - everything fixed, even new covering put on (or whatever else minor things as extra touch-ups). I'm sure you would be happy. And what if after you told the repair person how happy you are with everything - he told you: "Btw, I didnt do it myself - I have a good repair guy that did it and he was nice enough to even add little nice things, plus throw in a new strap or something". Would you still be upset that it wasnt the same person that did the repair? What if camera was sent to Sherry K and she did the repair, but it was done without asking you first? Would that still be as much of a problem?

I agree - it was an upsetting situation and the owner of the shop had to at least check that repair was done or done properly. But I'd give them at least a chance to fix that problem, unless you know they are crooks to begin with - but than you wouldnt go to them in a first place.
 
I think the repair was attempted but did not work.

With respect to the letting him have another swing at it I would vote NO. He did not set the OPs expectations for that. It is not that he is a crook, but more that he is inexperienced and most of the time I would not want him learning on my camera. If it were not in my main group of user cameras and I had a good relationship with him/her and it was a learning experience that I knew would be made right in the end I would say have a good with it.

Having it shipped out to an expert, not an issue. But if it came back smelling of oil or WD-40 that would be very different. Handing your equipment over for repair is a matter of trust.

B2 (;->
 
BillBingham2 said:
It is not that he is a crook, but more that he is inexperienced ...
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I beg to differ, Bill. The OP called the situation a "scam", so he is indeed accusing the repariman of being a crook. And on your second point... you might be correct but there is no evidence of that.

It is certain that the repair did not meet the requirements of the OP but we don't know how those requirements were expressed to either the camera shop or the subcontract repairman.

There are way too many unknowns in this story to be able to accurately speculate from afar. :)
 
Gumby said:
I beg to differ, Bill. The OP called the situation a "scam", so he is indeed accusing the repariman of being a crook........
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You are correct but I read that as a "Heat Of The Moment" reaction to having a close friend of his (a camera) mishandled and not returned. I think the repairman got heated at that moment too and then after it cooled down on both sides good things happened.


Gumby said:
.......There are way too many unknowns in this story to be able to accurately speculate from afar. :)
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Agreed!

B2 (;->
 
I'm glad that things worked out for the OP and he got his camera back.

Krosya said:
Let take an example. What if you came back when you did and camera was in superb shape - everything fixed, even new covering put on (or whatever else minor things as extra touch-ups). I'm sure you would be happy. And what if after you told the repair person how happy you are with everything - he told you: "Btw, I didnt do it myself - I have a good repair guy that did it and he was nice enough to even add little nice things, plus throw in a new strap or something". Would you still be upset that it wasnt the same person that did the repair? What if camera was sent to Sherry K and she did the repair, but it was done without asking you first? Would that still be as much of a problem?
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I don't agree with that at all. Perhaps the OP wouldn't kick up a big fuss if the camera came back fixed properly by someone with a good reputation and an extra bonus strap. But that's not what happened here.

The fact of the matter is the repair guy wasn't upfront with the OP about what was going to happen to the camera and who was going to fix it. That's not acceptable IMHO.
 
Andy Kibber said:
I'm glad that things worked out for the OP and he got his camera back.



I don't agree with that at all. Perhaps the OP wouldn't kick up a big fuss if the camera came back fixed properly by someone with a good reputation and an extra bonus strap. But that's not what happened here.

The fact of the matter is the repair guy wasn't upfront with the OP about what was going to happen to the camera and who was going to fix it. That's not acceptable IMHO.
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I tend to agree with the above. I have stood in my favorite local camera shop and heard them tell customers they had to send something out for repairs. They would tell them they didn't know what the exact problem was, but repairs typically cost in the range of ... but they would get an estimate before repairs were done.

I have also been to local auto repair shops (since that was used as an example) and been told they would do a repair, but such and such would have to go to a machine shop.

Such are the best ways to treat a customer. No surprises.

I also expect the camera store to act as my representative/agent. When they send out something for repair, they are in effect telling me they will do so. Otherwise, they should give me the names of repair shops, or just say they don't handle repairs, check the yellow pages. As my representative/agent, they will ensure I am getting what I paid for. I have no leverage with a 2nd party. They do.

I think the OP acted fairly reasonably. The store owner could have acted much differently, as well as the "2nd party." You don't raise a repair by 1/3 without contacting the customer and explaining why it is necessary, and getting permission. That was the first mistake. It went down hill from there.
 
lots of good points here. my reaction or overreaction was simply based on my desire to have my camera back in my hands. I did nothing wrong...he did.

had he said when I went to pick it up...

1. I decided to send your camera to a qualified shop for repair as I wanted it right for you; a good customer.

2. when it got back from repair I called you and, based on my experience with this repair guy I use with normally good result, i assured you it was fixed and to come get it

3. I, the camera store owner, failed in my job as i did not inspect the work of my sub vendor. The camera should be fixed but it is not. This is my fault an we will address it as you wish.

4. I can have it fixed again by the same guy or you can have it back.

That is how this should have been handled. I know this as in my business i have had the basic issue happen before and that is how I handled it. Honest and willing to do whatever makes a bad situation less bad for the customer.

The "scam" in the title was a bit of frustration but also the truth. He was holding onto my camera to address a debt with his vendor. No work was done, no monies owed. It is on him if he chose to pay for a repair without inspecting the work.

Had work been done and the work not to standard then he should have gotten an opportunity to fix the camera again. I would have been willing to allow that.

It was lie upon lie with this guy. No way did I want him to have my stuff......

So now that this is beat into the ground lets argue over who I should send it to to have it really fixed :)
 
BillBingham2 said:
I think the repair was attempted but did not work.

(;->
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Gosh...i thought it was done :)

No work at all done to the camera. Dirt still on it, sand still inside it. My 1/2 assed tape on the hood still in place, could still see my sweaty fingerprints on it.

The most basic part of the repair was the RF alignment; not done at all.

The owner admitted that no work was done at all and said he could not expalin it.
 
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